Gloomy June days still 10 times brighter than December's gray

The snow-covered Space Needle stands out from a particularly gray Seattle on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017.

The snow-covered Space Needle stands out from a particularly gray...

SEATTLE -- The past several days around Seattle have done their best to justify the "June Gloom" nickname, but even on our darkest days, they can't hold a candle to the gloom of winter.

Sunday's cloudy day registered just 5.78 MJ/m^2 of sun energy at the University of Washington, according to UW research meteorologist Mark Albright.

That doesn't sound like a lot, and it isn't. But it's still considerably brighter than the dark days of winter. Nearly 11 times brighter, in fact.

On a stormy Dec. 11 last year, the UW only registered 0.54 MJ/M^2 of sun energy. Granted, this time of year near the solstice we have several more hours of daylight, even if it's having a hard time reaching the ground.

But those dim rays of sunlight add up.

And even with the gloom of Sunday, it's even been gloomier in June. Last year's June 30 only had a day register 5.28, and in 2014, those of us looking out the window on June 13th must have felt in a time warp with just 3.90 MJ/M^s measured, Albright said.